The Sunday Papers

The Sunday Papers is brand spanking new weekly offering by Riff City Guitar. Our single goal with this feature is to provide a good morning read over coffee, each and every Sunday. What you won’t find in our new feature is a sales pitch or product recommendations. We’ve asked Andy Perrin—one of the industry’s best writers on guitar gear and culture—to pen short weekly editorials that tell the tales of how we got to where are in the music industry and the players and builders that helped us along the way. In short, The Sunday Papers are about conversations, stories, histories, and experiences with the guitar.

You’d never guess it from the smashing success of the semi-annual NAMM shows, but this organization had origins as humble as a garage band in an era before there were cars to park in garages. Here’s a short rundown on the history and heritage of America’s greatest gig for gearheads…

Every family has its quirky branches of the family tree, even Fender. In the re-emergence of offset guitars, however, these overlooked, forgotten, or even accidental relics of Fender and Squier vintage are proof that what was once odd can become awesome…